Disclaimer: I do not, nor do I claim to, own RWBY or any other media referenced in this story. All rights go to respective owners. The only thing I lay any claim to are my OCs (which do not enter the story until later).
Training is rough to say the least.
None of them had expected how harsh a trainer Rosa turned out to be, especially after what she had told them about her experience.
"Faster, Jaune, move faster," she calls out.
He is running around the perimeter of the training hall that they had booked. That in itself would be fine, he's had plenty of practice running from his sisters. Unfortunately, he is wearing all of his gear, and has weight bands on each limb slowing him down. It's heavy, he's tired, and he doesn't think he can go any faster. He pushes himself anyway.
Rosa gets scary if you don't listen to her during training.
In the centre of the hall, Yang and Nora are sparring with each other without weapons. The two heavyweights of the squad are matching each other blow for blow. Not too far away from them, Weiss and Pyrrha are using their semblances to manipulate their surroundings, chasing each other, and trying to knock each other off balance. The constant use of their semblances draining them more than they had expected.
The roof has a loose net hanging from it, and it is up there that Blake and Ren are sparring. Their goal is to knock the other down to the ground below. Just moving around without falling is hard enough.
Rosa herself is training her semblance. Standing on one of her swords and making it hover in the air, she moves around the hall to look at everyone from different angles. If she catches you slacking, she's on your tail nearly in an instant.
Jaune starts to slow again, but he picks up the pace as he sees Rosa jet across the hall to get on his tail. Rosa on the other hand has to smirk to herself a bit.
Scare tactics are good to a certain extent. Yes, she doesn't want them to overexert themselves, that would be a disaster that she wants to avoid at all costs, however they are picking things up quickly. Even a week of training is proving very successful for the resident Mistral Champion.
"At ease!" she calls out.
The effect is immediate.
Rosa has to stifle a laugh at the sight of them all. None of them are holding themselves to their usual levels of pride.
Jaune trips over his own feet and flops onto the ground, not bothering to either catch himself or pick himself up.
Nora and Yang plonk themselves onto the ground and just rub at their sore body parts (neither of them are quite used to just how heavy hitting the other was yet).
Weiss crumples to the ground but manages to keep herself upright as she catches her breath back.
Pyrrha, on the other hand, walks over to the drinks tray, and goes around passing out the drink bottles, but her exhaustion can still be seen in her sluggish movements and the way her feet drag along the ground.
Blake drops from the ceiling net, and just lays on the ground. Eyes closed, she seemingly drifts off into a nap.
Ren doesn't even bother joining the others on the ground, content to just limply hang in the net as he catches his breath. It didn't seem worth the effort to join the others down there when he can just relax up in the net.
Pulling herself together, she begins to go into how well they went with the session, what she thinks they could've done better, and what she is planning on having them do in their next training session (which wouldn't be until the next day).
What she doesn't tell them was that she is proud of them. Proud that they are all taking this seriously, that they aren't goofing off. Sure, the scare tactics are part of it, but even without them, they had been focused on the tasks she put in front of them. She only needed to get on their cases about pushing themselves to a higher standard.
She wonders briefly about how they would react if she told them about her plans for the next weekend.
It would probably be a mixed bag.
Afterall, not everyone likes playing dress ups.
She was right. It is a massively mixed bag.
Weiss is near furious, demanding to know what is wrong with the way she dresses.
Surprisingly, Jaune is right next to her, outright refusing to take part, stating that he'd had enough 'dress up' sessions with his seven sisters to last him a lifetime. He won't be partaking in any more. No way. You can't pay him.
On the other end of the spectrum, Yang and Nora are practically vibrating. Bouncing off the walls (and each other) and spurting ideas on what the others could wear and 'oh! You should do this with your hair!' Every suggestion hypes the other up even further – much to the horror of Weiss and Jaune.
For that matter, Weiss looks just about ready to slap both of the heavy weights, and Rosa doesn't want to be on the receiving end when Weiss snaps at either of them.
Ren, Blake and Pyrrha are in the middle. They don't really care, and aren't necessarily interested, but seem somewhat amused by the predicament that the others are in.
"Enough of that!" Rosa snaps at them. "Sit down, right now so I can fully explain what we are doing."
They all oblige, but the excited nature of Yang and Nora, and the irritated demeanour of Weiss and Jaune, are still very much noticeable.
"I suppose that 'dress ups' is a much more childish way of describing today's activities. A more mature version would be 'learning how to employ a disguise'. This is a lesson. So, everyone is going to be taking part." Rosa pauses to physically move her head so that they could each tell she was staring them down. "Disguises are necessary. We don't know when we'll need to use them, and they could very well get us out of sticky situations. Which is why we are doing this."
By this point, Yang and Nora have horror stricken looks on their faces. They never imagined that an activity as fun as dressing up could be turned into such a tedious task. Conversely, Wiess is more cooperative, but Jaune is still being a stick in the mud. Pyrrha, Blake, and Ren are all nodding along. It makes sense after all. Rosa has a point: disguises could get you out of a sticky situation.
"When you employ a disguise, you have to know what the people tracking you are looking for. For example, if they are looking for Weiss, they'll be looking for a young woman, average height and lithe, long white hair, with an Atlesian accent. Easiest way to throw them off the trail is to change any or all of those aspects. Using a disguise to make her appear to be a male with a stockier build, with short dark hair and a clearly Mistralian accent would be a very easy way to throw off any suspicion. Wouldn't you agree?" Rosa explains. Jaune scoffs.
"But how would that even work? How would a disguise even pull that off?" he scowls.
Behind her goggles, Rosa rolls her eyes.
"Stay right where you are," she warns before walking into the bathroom. She then sets to work. Pulling out her metal supplies box, she digs out her disguise kit. Trading her dress for a pair of trousers, a blazer, and a dress shirt. Goggles come off and coloured contacts go in. A wig of short white-blonde hair gets pulled on over shoulder length choppy black hair and wolf ears alike. Scarf is exchanged for a necktie, and combat boots are exchanged for sleek dress shoes. Lastly, a layer of makeup is applied to give her wrinkles, age spots, and the slightest hint of stubble where she had none before. Stepping out of the bathroom, she adopts a thick Atlesian accent and a stooped over back.
"I doubt you kids would recognise this old man if you saw him walking right past you," she enunciates. Watching as they each stare at her, jaws dropping one by one. "Disguises don't seem so silly now, do they sonny?" she scolds Jaune, shaking a crooked finger at him.
A few moments pass before the giggles start. Then, giggles turn into full out laughing. Eventually, it dies back down, and they all get to work with practicing their disguises.
Rosa walks them through wigs and coloured contacts, making them practice putting them on/in and taking them off/out until they're comfortable with the process.
They all help each other with faking accents. Rosa and Blake have the easiest time, even if Blake's natural French-and-something-else accent bleeds through a small amount. The others have a harder time, but it amounts to giggles at how ridiculous some of them turn out. They end up getting interrupted in the afternoon, as they had been every week since Rosa had declared they weren't going to learn from Port.
She winks at her squad mates and – still in full old Atlesian man disguise – uses her semblance to open the door. As expected, Professor Goodwitch is there, but before she can launch into her tirade, Rosa cuts her off, seemingly lecturing her squad mates.
"Now you listen to me, young lady, I've already told my opinion on the matter. It has not changed since last time I was asked. I may be old myself, but Port has gone senile since our days of youth together. He is not capable of teaching students. Honestly, why did you choose to come here? You would have been much better off in Atlas. At least then you would be near family," she scolds.
Weiss picks up on it quickly.
"Grandfather. Apart from Professor Port, Beacon has been the best place for me. I want to stay here!" she protests. The others nod.
"Yeah, old man, Weiss is part of the squad, we're here for her. We wouldn't let anything happen to her!" Yang assures Weiss' 'grandfather'.
"Hmph. I guess I'll just be on my way then," Rosa huffs, turning around to the door. "Oh my. My apologies, young miss. If I had known a teacher was scheduled to check in on my granddaughter and her team, I would have come at a different time, I'll be on my way out. Don't let me intrude."
With that, Rosa walks out and waits until she hears the door close behind the professor. Smirking, she ducks into the communal bathroom, and uses her semblance to force her appearance to go back to normal. Once looking presentable, she runs back to the dorm and bursts in.
"Sorry Professor Goodwitch! I meant to get back earlier, but I was restocking my dust vials!" she states hurriedly.
"Very well. I am here to test you to make sure you are keeping up with curriculum in Grimm Studies," Professor Goodwitch announces.
Half an hour later, when Goodwitch is finished grilling them, she leaves with a slight huff. The moment the door shuts, Rosa twirls for her squad mates.
"That, my squadron, is the power of a disguise. Goodwitch didn't even question it. Good disguises can save you from sticky situations, but only if you know how to use them," she sums up.
"That was… amazing," Jaune manages to garble out. "I thought for sure, Goodwitch would flay you… but you got away with it."
"That shouldn't have even worked. Both my grandfathers are dead, it isn't exactly private information," Weiss points out.
Rosa smirks. "I've been practicing for a while. Disguise – a combination of word enunciation, self-control, clothing choices, and makeup – it is one of the best weapons of any hunter, fifth only to the mind, semblance, body, and weaponry. Best of all, anyone can do it. As for how it worked when it shouldn't have, simple, when you're in the moment and the obvious thing is staring you in the face, you don't question it unless you have reason to. Likely, Goodwitch dismissed any thoughts of your grandfathers both being dead and will figure it out later, but since she had other things to worry about at the time, didn't bother to use up mental energy. In the field, really useful as that gives you a head start to get away."
They spend the rest of the day practicing it even more, spurred on by Rosa's fooling of Goodwitch.
Rosa is standing in the middle of a classroom, looking at the full seats.
More than she was expecting, that's for sure.
The previous week, there had been barely half this many students coming to her version of Grimm Anatomy. She can't help but wonder what changed.
Sighing, she levitates the piece of chalk as she begins.
"Today, we're going to start with a hypothetical. The Wyvern. Otherwise known as the 'Grimm Dragon' and the 'Mother of Grimm'. Not much is known about this species of Grimm. What size they start out as is unknown, but there are reports of there having been a wyvern so large it could crash into the Beacon Clock Tower with one wing and knock it down in the process. It gets its second moniker from a supposed ability of theirs. The ability to exude a black tar-like substance that spawns newborn Grimm."
She pauses, looking at the drawing of the Grimm in question that she'd created on the blackboard.
"So, let's take the largest wyvern on record and give it its monikered ability. Let's brainstorm some ideas on how you would take down a Grimm like that?"
Silence.
After a few moments, a single hand goes up. Rosa doesn't recognise the boy.
"You can't. It would be suicide."
Rosa frowns.
"That is certainly one way of looking at it. Anyone have any other ideas?" she muses.
Another hand goes up, a girl this time.
"If you can get up to the Wyvern, you can slice at its wings. From the diagram you've drawn, they have membrane wings, which means they are weaker than that of a Nevermore. You cut the wings; it can't fly. You have a better chance of fighting it on the ground, where more hunters can come and help," she reasons.
Rosa nods along to this.
"Good. However, there are some problems here. Who can tell me what the problem is?" she asks.
"Bringing a Wyvern of that size down to the ground would likely squash countless buildings, killing civilians in the process," the boy from before points out.
"And?" Rosa presses.
"And you still have all the new Grimm forming from the Wyvern's tar to fight as well," the girl admits.
"Correct. Thus, we enter the 'Dilemma'," Rosa announces, turning around to physically write the word on the board. "That being, if you bring down the Wyvern to fight it in the city, people die from being crushed and you get overwhelmed by all the extra Grimm if there aren't any other hunters around. If you don't bring the Wyvern down over the city but manage to provoke it to fly elsewhere before bringing it down, people die from being left to the mercies of the newly formed Grimm, and you likely will die at the mercy of the Wyvern with no hunters to help you. Either way, you and a lot of civilians die. So, what choice do you make, especially when even more die from indecision?" Rosa lectures. She notes how the students shift awkwardly in their seats and then waves a hand at the board.
"But like I said, this is a hypothetical situation that is highly unlikely to happen. There hasn't been a Wyvern sighting in over a hundred years. However, the thinking still remains crucial." She pauses as the chalk eraser floats up and removes the drawings of the nigh-on mythical Grimm. In its place are the words 'Grimm Invasion'. "Grimm invasions on the other hand… those are more likely to occur. Cities overrun by Grimm. It has happened countless times in living memory. The hunters in those fights were faced with impossible choices. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Either way, people are going to die.
"Fact: out of everyone in this room, only a very small minority will die of old age and old age-related health complications. Fact: pretty much everyone else in this room will die on the battlefield. Some of you will die at the hands of another person, a mercenary or assassin that doesn't like hunters. The rest, the last thing you'll ever see is a Grimm as it kills you. Prediction: by our ten-year reunion after graduation, half of us in this room will already be dead. Fact: Those who do make it to the reunion will be the exceptionally skilled, the critically wounded forced retirees, and those who decided that being a hunter simply isn't for them.
"Fact: being a hunter is dangerous. It can and will kill you. The Grimm will not wait their turn to attack like a simulator. They will not stop when your aura is low, or when you are out of ammunition. They will kill you. This life is not for everyone. I predict that of the roughly forty people here, at least one team will have dropped out by the end of our time here. Another two teams will be dead. Yes, I advocate for safe learning. That is why I am teaching and not Port, because your team leaders don't trust him to allow students to learn in a safe environment. That does not mean I am going to tell you that everything is okay, that you'll all die of old age, that would be lying. As hunters, we need to walk a fine line between accepting our own mortality and the near overwhelming reality of an early death, and still fighting and clinging to life for another day. With no acceptance of mortality, you grow cocky, and you make mistakes… mistakes this line of work doesn't punish lightly. With no will to survive, your fighting drops off, relaxes, you become sloppy and that will get you killed." Rosa pauses, letting her words sink in.
"I know that what I've just told you isn't what you expected to hear today, and it certainly isn't Grimm Anatomy, but it is the grim reality. The more you focus now in a safer environment, the more likely you are to survive out in the real world. I would like a full attendance at the ten-year-reunion, so make sure you pay attention. If you don't understand something, ask questions. Figure it out, make sure that you do find a way to understand it. Do I make myself clear?"
She watches as every head bobs up and down. She gives a short nod and wipes the board clean before continuing the lesson with an insight into the anatomy of the King Taijitu.
At the end of the lesson, Rosa goes up to the girl who had raised her hand earlier. As she hadn't been there the previous week, Rosa suspected that maybe she knew why there had been such an influx of people.
"I noticed that there were a lot more people here today that in past lessons. Any ideas why?"
"Yeah. Professor Port did another volunteer thing. Cardin Winchester volunteered; he got both legs broken badly. The rest of his team had to step in to stop the Ursa from killing him. Port doesn't do anything except tell stories, and that's the second time a student has almost died in his care. After that, we all decided that it wasn't worth sticking around anymore," the girl explains.
Rosa sighs. "I don't want to say 'I told you so' but…"
"But you did warn us! We didn't listen. Yes, Winchester was arrogant, and he probably needed to get beat like that to realise that he isn't as great as he thinks he is, but you warned us that this would happen. If anyone gets to say it, you do," the girl interrupts.
"I see… well, did you find my lesson more informational?" Rosa decides to ask, moving away from the heavy topic.
"Yes, I did. I've never had to fight a Taijitu before, which is lucky because I didn't know most of the stuff you taught us about them," the girl begins rambling. That goes on for a few more minutes before her team come to drag her to their next class.
Following their lead, Rosa heads off to join her squad for their next class as well.
Out of all their classes, history is by far the one Rosa enjoys the most.
It is the subject that she knows the least about, so she doesn't feel like she's lazing around doing nothing like she does in weapons engineering; or bored of holding back like in combat class. It helps that the teacher is eccentric enough for her to like listening to him. His views on faunus only help the matter.
He is passionate about history and is staunchly against bullying of any kind. He's upfront about everything he does, and to Rosa, he is what she considers a true teacher to be. Yes, she hasn't seen how well he handles in combat, but in a classroom environment, she is more than happy having him as her teacher.
It came as no surprise then that Doctor Oobleck is her favourite teacher. Well… to those who knew her. Most people – including Doctor Oobleck – initially thought her favourite would be Professor Goodwitch, only to be shocked by the complete unhidden distrust she showed the woman.
The only person outside of Rosa's squad that hadn't been surprised about her choice in favourite teacher was Professor Ozpin.
"What have you to report, Qrow?" the headmaster asks the man on the other end of the phone call.
"Not a lot, Oz. Fall's assailants are on the move, but I can't pinpoint where they are going or why. There's something being planned, but I haven't got a lot to go on. We just have to be careful," the man replies. "Any luck picking a new Fall?"
"I have a few candidates. Pyrrha Nikos is one of the most obvious choices. Her strength and fortitude in the public eye, along with her current ability to hide her semblance, makes her a very good choice. Velvet Scarlentina is also on the list, the restraint she shows with her fighting style is a good trait to have in this day and age where the new Fall would be hunted. The third candidate is someone who previously wasn't on the radar. A Rosa Calavera. She's strong, very strong, and has very good control of her semblance. If it weren't for a few issues, I would say she is the perfect candidate," Ozpin tells him.
"What issues?" Qrow asks from the other end of the call.
"She's very head-strong, opinionated about many things. She is hiding a lot of her past, which makes me hesitant to fully trust her. She butts heads with Glynda on a near constant basis. Lastly, she's younger than the others, and I hesitate to put such pressure on a girl who is already shouldering more weight than the usual fifteen-year-old," he explains.
"She's fifteen? Oz, why is she even at Beacon if she's that young?"
"She showed exceptional skill, and she passed the entrance examination with flying colours. Frankly, she is more skilful than her peers in first year. She hasn't been placed in any ranking against any of the other years, but I heavily suspect she is holding back just what she is capable of," Ozpin reveals.
"You think she's a spy?" Qrow asks.
"No, not a spy. I am cautious of her; I know so little of her past to be able to truly judge her character. What I have seen of it would make her a good maiden. However, if it is an act, if she is hiding more than just how skilled she really is, choosing her to be the next Fall could be a rather large mistake," Ozpin attempts to explain.
"Oz, I feel bad enough that we have to ask any young woman to take up the mantle of Fall, can we just… not choose the girl who is literally younger than my niece? Please?" Qrow sighs.
"Time will tell, Qrow, time will tell. There have been younger maidens in the past, but I understand your desire to leave the young out of this mess," Ozpin states before ending the call.
Rubbing his temples, he mulls over the two months that had passed since the beginning of the year. It wasn't shaping up to be anything like previous years, and his gut told him that Rosa Calavera was shaking things up more than he could even identify.
"Why couldn't she have just let me die in peace?" he mutters to himself, cursing, not for the first time, the woman he had once loved. He had never wanted this life. He hadn't understood back then what a curse reincarnation truly was. An endless battle, where the lives of innocents die in vain, all for an old lovers' feud.
Did he feel guilty for every death their battle caused? Yes. Every life lost is one that he silently mourns. Would he just stand back and let the woman he once loved run rampant on the world though? No. That would be worse.
So, he is left to wallow in his failings, and try to keep Salem from destroying the world he so loves.
A/N: Welcome back to another chapter. I know it was kinda fillery, I'm sorry for that, but I needed to bridge the space of time, and this is what I came up with. Hope you liked it all the same.
On an unrelated note, to anyone who does fancy baking on any sort of regular basis, you have my eternal respect, that shit is hard as I discovered while making my mum a birthday cake. It took multiple hours, the electric mixer stopping twice, me almost ruining a pizza pan (in an attempt to keep the chocolate cake batter leaking from the cake tin and all over the oven), and also accidentally burning myself in the process.
As always, please review to let me know your thoughts, and if you need someone to talk to, feel free to send me a PM and I'll try to get back to you.
- RebeccaMagic9